Bulgarian style oven-baked bean stew
Ingredients:
1 bowl* of dry white beans
1 onion
5 to 6 tablespoons of oil
2-3 dried red peppers (option)
1 teaspoon of tomato paste (unflavored)
1 tomato
1 teaspoon of paprika
1 teaspoon of dried mint
1 teaspoon of dried savory
* 1 bowl of 400 ml
Preparation:
The day before, soak the beans in a saucepan of lukewarm water.
The next day, change the water of the beans and bring to a boil. Wait a few minutes and change the water again, rinsing the beans in a colander. Put 1 tablespoon of baking soda and return the pan to the heat. Wait for the new boil (be careful, it foams a lot) and drain the water one last time. Rinse the beans and fill the saucepan with water to cover the beans with 2-3 cm. Return to the heat and boiling resumes, simmer over low heat.
When the beans are well cooked through (40 to 90 minutes depending on the variety and age of the beans), salt to taste. Transfer to a deep ceramic baking dish.
In another pot, cook the finely chopped onion for 5 minutes. Then add the paprika, stir and 20 seconds later add the grated tomato and the tomato paste diluted with a little water. Finally, flavor with all the dried spices, stir and pour this preparation into the dish with the white beans. Dip the dried peppers into the beans.
Bake the bean stew at 180°C until they have a nice golden crust (30-40 minutes).
The dish can be garnished with smoked Strasbourg sausages (towards the end of cooking).